Count us in! – A New Edition of the Summer Training Course for Young Patient Advocates

In 2017, we ran a pilot Summer Training Course for Young Patient Advocates, with the aim of coaching young trainees and strengthening their leadership and advocacy skills. This training focused on three topic areas: leadership, discrimination, and human rights from an advocacy perspective. The 2017 training was a huge success we are thrilled to announce that the second edition of the training will take place once again in Vienna!

The 2018 edition will have non-discrimination and stigma as overarching theme, with the training course outcomes contributing to the Youth Group’s activities planned in the EPF 2018 Work Plan.

While the 2017 edition provided a broader overview of non-discrimination principles, the 2018 edition will look at concrete advocacy and communication actions to facilitate a meaningful impact on the societal and institutional levels.

Through the training, participants will explore concrete examples of how living with chronic conditions affects young patients’ daily lives and investigate how discrimination is often an unwanted outcome of standardisation and consequently more difficult to eradicate.

The training will also address the misperceptions often caused by the invisibility of many chronic conditions, including misunderstanding and stigma attached to symptoms like fatigue and chronic pain.

Key facts about STYPA 2018

If you are interested in applying for the training, please keep the following information and guidelines in mind:

The course will be held in Vienna, Austria from Sunday 1 July (evening) through Wednesday 4 July (evening) 2018.

Participants must be able to attend the entire course programme and not just one or two days.

All applicants must be a young employee or volunteer of a patient organisation, a young patient with a chronic and/or lifelong illness/condition who is affiliated with a patient organisation, a young patient with a chronic and/or lifelong illness/condition who is not affiliated with a patient organisation, or a family member/carer of a young patient.

All participants must be between the ages of 18 and 30.

Applications will be accepted from candidates living in the EU Members States and those countries who have either the official EU candidate or potential candidate country status.

We are definitely encouraging applications from those who participated in the 2017 edition and are motivated to continue their leadership training and development with us.

Are you a young patient? Join us in Vienna! Applications will be accepted through 1 March 2018 so there is no time to lose – submit your application today!